How high-speed rail can boost economy

The Hong Kong stock market has rarely charmed investors so much in the last couple of years. The Hang Seng index rose 9.8 percent from the beginning of the year to the end of last week, outperforming almost all the other markets in the world.

Hong Kong is still a window to the Chinese mainland's economy. Its stock market's recent performance confirms what some analysts said at the turn of the year: for all its existing problems and the uncertainties of other economies, the Chinese economy, and for that matter, the Hong Kong market, will be a stabilizing factor in 2017.

Over the last few years, China has learned how to achieve the needed level of growth during its economic transition while dealing with a host of external threats and meeting domestic challenges.